Daily Archive: December 18, 2023

If you’ve been injured, a podiatrist or physiotherapist can help. Both are healthcare professionals who specialize in treating musculoskeletal conditions.

A physiotherapist can address issues in your lower legs, feet, and ankles as well as other body areas. They take a ‘whole-person’ approach to treatment, focusing on the prevention of injuries.

Personalized Treatment

A podiatrist in Toowoomba specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal foot and lower leg injuries. Their skills, training, and expertise allow them to offer patients an alternative to surgery for many conditions. Podiatrists also help individuals manage pain and improve the quality of their daily lives by reducing or eliminating their reliance on medication and implementing an individualized approach to physical therapy.

Using 3D technology, a podiatrist can create a detailed image of your feet to gain insight into the structure and function of your feet. Then they can recommend a personalized program that will alleviate your pain, increase mobility, and decrease the risk of further injury.

Each individual’s foot structure, gait pattern, and medical history are unique. So too are their needs, which is why podiatrists work closely with physical therapists to develop individualized treatment plans that cater to each patient’s specific needs.

By combining the skills of both podiatrists and physical therapists, patients can get more effective treatment in a shorter period of time. This holistic approach reduces the need for pain medications and allows patients to experience a higher quality of life while addressing the root cause of their discomfort.

Preventive Care

When you have a health issue, preventive services can help detect and diagnose conditions, determine the best treatments, and help you learn how to take care of yourself. These services can also reduce your risk of disease, improve your quality of life, and help you make healthier lifestyle choices.

Podiatrists focus on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal, medical, and surgical conditions of the feet and lower legs. Physiotherapy is a therapeutic movement-based approach to managing pain and improving mobility. Together, podiatry and Toowoomba physiotherapy can help you recover from injury and live the life you want.

This investigation randomized participants with plantar heel pain (PHP) to receive usual podiatric care only (uPOD) or interdisciplinary care that included physical therapy treatment in addition to podiatry care (uPOD+PT). UPOD included an evaluation by a podiatrist who diagnosed the foot and ankle condition, provided education about the diagnosis, recommended footwear, orthotics, and/or medicines, referred the participant to a physical therapist when indicated, and provided a 6-week and 1-year assessment of the activities of daily living subscale of the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM).

In the uPOD+PT group, all participants were referred to a licensed physical therapist for PHP. The therapists used an evidence-based physical therapy program that includes a mix of manual therapy and education/advice to address both local and proximal impairments that contribute to the symptoms of PHP. Physical therapy can increase patient adherence to treatment and enhance clinical outcomes. It can also facilitate the efficient use of limited healthcare resources by reducing the number of patients who must wait for medical specialist referrals. There is increasing support for extending the role of allied health practitioners with prescribing and medicines management skills. For example, physiotherapists are trained to assess and treat back pain, musculoskeletal injuries, and sprains and strains and are increasingly providing triage and initial assessment of patients on medical specialist/surgical waiting lists in some countries. Similarly, podiatrists are trained to manage common gout and diabetic foot problems and have extended scope powers to prescribe medications.

Joint Alignment

Physiotherapists use a wide range of techniques, such as exercise and physical therapies to improve your mobility and health. They also work with you to help you develop a healthy lifestyle and prevent pain or injury in the future.

Using a biomechanical assessment of your feet and joints, a physiotherapist can identify any issues that are impacting your alignment. They can then put together a treatment plan to correct these issues, helping you regain alignment and alleviate your pain.

Podiatrists have a unique professional identity in relation to other healthcare professionals, with their focus on the lower extremity and the importance of foot and ankle health – a ‘healthy foot’ for a ‘healthy body’. However, they are vulnerable to boundary encroachment by other professions and roles due to differences in professional culture and employment status. The emergence of the health care assistant role in podiatry has highlighted this issue as it blurs the line between patient treatment and clinical management and is perceived to threaten the professionalism of the profession.

Minimal evidence exists about barriers to change in podiatry compared with substantial literature on the barriers and implementation strategies in other healthcare professions. The need for further research to identify successful models of practice in order to inform the development of innovative approaches to podiatry is recognized, particularly given the pressures of a transforming NHS and a growing demand for allied health care services.

This study aims to investigate whether the addition of podiatric care by a physical therapist (ePT) to usual podiatry care (uPOD) can reduce the number of visits and costs associated with podiatric treatment. A parallel-group, block-randomized clinical trial will be conducted to compare uPOD+PT and ePT with a control group receiving usual podiatric care alone. All participants will see a podiatrist at their initial visit and, following random allocation may be allocated to receive either ePT or uPOD+PT. The generalizability of this investigation is limited by the fact that usual practice patterns and interdisciplinary collaboration in this investigation were based at one clinic and therefore may not reflect those in other systems or regions.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is the process of restoring your physical health following an injury or surgery. It involves a team of medical professionals who work together to help you heal and learn new skills that will improve your quality of life. During the rehabilitation process, your doctor will develop a treatment plan that is tailored to your individual needs. This will include a combination of therapies such as physical therapy and therapeutic exercises.

Podiatrists are experts in diagnosing and treating foot problems. They are trained to identify minor complaints such as nail conditions, fungal infections, and skin lesions as well as more serious issues like bunions, hammertoes, and joint deformities that can cause chronic pain, swelling, and limited mobility. By visiting a podiatrist for routine foot care, you can prevent these conditions from worsening and avoid costly medical treatments in the future.

Many people rely on their feet to carry them through everyday activities and as such, it is important to keep them healthy and strong. Unfortunately, many people often ignore the signs of foot and ankle problems such as pain, numbness, and discomfort until they become too severe. If these issues are not addressed early on, they can result in more serious health complications and even lead to amputation.

Physiotherapy is a comprehensive treatment that addresses the underlying causes of foot and ankle pain. It also focuses on the patient’s overall lifestyle, including nutrition, exercise, and stress management. By doing this, physiotherapy helps patients to get back on their feet and reduce the risk of future injuries.

The integration of podiatry and physiotherapy not only addresses existing ailments but also pioneers preventive strategies, aiming to mitigate risks and enhance overall patient well-being. By amalgamating the expertise of both disciplines, patients can experience more effective and efficient treatment, reducing reliance on pain medications and improving their quality of life while addressing the root cause of discomfort. This symbiotic relationship between podiatry and physiotherapy opens avenues for enhanced patient care, recovery from injuries, and improved quality of life, reaffirming the significance of this multidisciplinary approach in fostering overall health and wellness.

Men and women with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer can often be treated with transurethral resection (TURBT) and a urinary diversion. Surgically creating a new way for urine to store and leave your body eliminates the tumor and preserves bladder function.

Surgical factors significantly influence postcystectomy survival and local recurrence. Univariate analysis of patient and tumor variables that were associated with recurrence included age, pathologic stage (pT stage), node status, operative margins, soft tissue margins, type of surgeon (general urologist v urologic oncologist), and type of institution.

Laser En Bloc Resection

Thulium laser en bloc resection of bladder tumors (TmL-ERBT) has recently gained attention as a potential alternative to classical transurethral resection of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). This technique allows for the complete removal of the lesion, including the underlying detrusor muscle, and improves pathological assessment. It also decreases the risk of residual disease and improves the quality of the specimen, reducing the possibility of scattering tumor cells during surgery.

Jeremy Teoh, MD, PhD, FRCP, and Wei Shen Tan, MD, PhD, discuss a new study that compared en bloc resection to traditional TURBT in patients with NMIBC less than 3 cm in size. Interestingly, this multicenter randomized controlled trial found that en bloc resection resulted in significantly lower one-year recurrence rates than conventional resection.

However, despite the potential benefits of this approach, some challenges remain. Firstly, there are different protein expression patterns between tumors in the same patient, which makes it difficult to select the most appropriate molecular fluorescent agent for optical molecular imaging-assisted en bloc tumor resection. Secondly, there is a need to further develop and evaluate the safety of this procedure, in particular for lesions located on the dome of the bladder or at the anterior or posterior wall of the bladder. This is an important consideration since the number of these lesions in NMIBC is increasing.

Minimally Invasive Surgery

The surgical management of urologic cancers has entered a new, technology-driven era. This era is characterized by the use of advanced diagnostic and prognostic tools that allow for more precise surgical planning and techniques that minimize postoperative patient morbidity. This has translated to a more tailored approach to surgical management that provides patients with the optimal balance of therapeutic efficacy and quality of life.

For example, some people with bladder cancer are good candidates for a minimally invasive procedure called local excision (also known as polypectomy). This surgery involves inserting a thin, flexible tube into your urethra and guiding it into the bladder. If the doctor sees cancerous tissue, tools inserted through the tube can remove it or burn it off using an electric current. This is a very effective option for removing precancerous polyps and many early-stage, low-grade, or non-invasive tumors.

If the cancer is in a later stage or has spread beyond the bladder lining, it may be necessary to remove your bladder. Traditionally, this has involved an open operation involving a large incision in the abdomen and pelvis. However, urological surgeon Melbourne is experienced in a wide range of minimally invasive techniques that can help improve your urinary function and quality of life after the removal of your bladder.

If your bladder is removed, doctors must create a new way for you to store and empty urine. The most common way is to make a conduit by using a small section of your intestine. This connects your ureters (tube-like structures that carry urine from the kidneys to your bladder) to an opening in your abdomen called a stoma. You then collect the urine in a plastic receptacle, often worn under your clothing, called a urostomy pouch.

Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery

Surgeons are trained to perform minimally invasive robotic surgery to treat cancerous and noncancerous conditions of the kidney, prostate, bladder, ureter, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, colon, stomach, and head and neck. These procedures involve smaller incisions, less blood loss, and shorter hospital stays than traditional open surgeries.

With robotics, your doctor can see a larger field of view than he or she would with conventional surgical instruments. This allows for more precise movements and a magnified image on the screen, which leads to fewer complications and a quicker recovery.

Many urologists offer a variety of surgical options, including partial cystectomy to remove the tumor while leaving some of the muscle wall of the bladder and prevent future cancerous growth, or radical cystectomy to remove the entire bladder and reduce the risk of cancer returning in another area of the body. Depending on the type of tumor, our doctors may also remove lymph nodes, part or all of the ureters, the prostate gland, and sometimes the ovaries and uterus.

While robotic surgery offers many advantages, it is not without risks. There is a small but not negligible number of fatalities associated with robotic systems. This is true of most surgical techniques, but the higher number of deaths reported with robotics compared to other minimally invasive procedures such as laparoscopy suggests that surgeons who use these systems need to have more experience and better training than those who do not.

Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Surgery

Our surgeons have expertise in minimally invasive surgery, which uses specialized tools and small cuts (sometimes called “keyhole” cuts) instead of larger ones. Our surgeons use these to explore, remove, or repair the problem inside your body without opening your chest or abdomen.

During this procedure, we guide a thin medical tube into the urethra (the natural channel that leads from outside your body to the bladder) and into the bladder. A camera on the end of the tube enables us to see inside your body and take measurements. We then use laser rays or electrical currents to target and destroy tumor cells and abnormal tissues. This is the most common surgery for early-stage bladder cancer Melbourne.

If the cancer has spread from the bladder to nearby lymph nodes, we remove these and send them to a pathologist for examination. If the bladder has to be removed, we can rebuild your urinary tract with an ileal conduit or artificial bladder. An internal pouch made from a section of your intestine drains urine into a bag in the abdomen, and about 90 percent of people regain normal urinary control.